Best Detox Spas

Detoxing the body through fasting, colonics, and specialized diets and spa treatments can be done at some spas that have special staff and programs.

Our body’s natural detoxification system is designed to support our health by eliminating waste products and some doctors believe it benefits from periodic rest and support. Here's what you need to know before you detox and my picks for the best detox spas:

1. The Raj

The Raj is located in Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa, started by the Maharishi who taught the Beatles how to meditate in the sixties. The fairly luxurious spa offers a shortened version of the classic Ayurvedic detox called panchakarma, which in India takes 14- 28 days. Just 18 people stay at the spa, which serves organic vegetarian meals of lentil soup, grains, vegetables and stewed fruits. The program detoxes the body through diet and specialized treatments like Abhyanga.

2. Elemental Embrace

This Canadian wellness retreat offers the best of East and West detox – colonic hydrotherapy and 7 to 21 day Ayurvedic panchakarma programs. It’s a family run wellness center in apple orchard country 90 miles east of Toronto. The food is mostly Indian and caters to vegans and vegetarians, but meat eaters can enjoy chicken and fish. It takes only 20 people at a time so you get a lot of individual attention. People tend to wander around – even eat dinner -- in their robes.

3. We Care Spa

is the classic California detox, where guests go on a liquid fast and get daily colonics to further flush out toxins. It’s relatively small and modest spa but in the beautiful setting of Desert Hot Springs. You can get detoxing spa treatments like lymphatic massage and they have yoga, meditation, and dance classes. It has a very loyal following with celebrities and the LA crowd.

4. Sanoviv Medical Institute

This holistic hospital about an hour south of San Diego in Rosarito, Mexico, offers a one or two-week detoxification and regeneration programs overseen by a medical doctor, nutritionist and detoxification specialist. A lot of people who come here have serious health issues like cancer, MS, lyme disease, and chronic fatigue syndrome, but anyone who wants to get healthier can go. You can get colonics, massage, and hydrotherapy, with fitness classes that are more spa than hospital.

5. Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center

This spiritual community in the Arizona desert south of Tucson is purposefully undeveloped – no TV, no phones, and minimal artificial lighting. You can do a 10, 17 or 24 day detox programs. The 10-day program starts with 7 days of 100% organic green juice, followed by three days of organic raw food. You can fast with a group or on your own. It’s do-it-yourself on the colonics front -- the “fasting pack” they recommend you buy has an enema bag. Guests also meditate, do yoga and get lymphatic drainage massage.

6. Hippocrates Health Institute

Bring your pen, paper and tape recorder. This health-oriented spa in West Palm Beach, Florida believes in healing the body through raw food and there are lots of lectures to make the case. Guests stay at least one week and up to three weeks, eating raw foods, taking spa treatments, meditating and exercising. This is about changing the way you eat, not a short-term cleanse. The Oasis Therapy Center offers colon hydrotherapy and a lot of different therapies aimed at detoxifying or rebalancing the body and mind.

7. New Age Health Spa

Neversink, NY. This all-inclusive destination spa with a rustic, bungalow colony feel has periodic five-night group juice fasts so you aren’t the only one at the table drinking raw juice and potassium broth. You can do your own self-guided juice fast anytime. The colon hydrotherapist is so cheerful you won’t mind what’s going on, and once a month, May through November you can purify at the Indian sweat lodge. Loyalists love it for being life-changing – and affordable. Read my review of New Age Health Spa.

8. Red Mountain Spa

Once a month this adventure destination spa in Ivins, Utah offers a seven-night Detoxification Program. It's detox light – no fasting, no colonics. It does cut out red meat, refined sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and allergens like corn, wheat and soy, and guests drink smoothies that aid in liver detoxification. There are lectures, cooking classes, yoga classes with detoxing twists, detox spa treatments like body wraps, and nutritional products to complete a full 28-day detox. Read my review of Red Mountain Spa.

9. Regency House Natural Health Spa

This seaside vegan spa near Fort Lauderdale lets you can do your own detox under the direction of Dr. Frank Sabatino, a chiropractor and nutritionist. It offers water and juice fasting year-round but you don’t do it in a group with other people. There is yoga and meditation – spa standards that are great for detoxing – and a popular water aerobics in the pool. But no colonics.

10. The Greenhouse

This super-pampering destination spa in Dallas has a luxury detox for the ladies who lunch. Its Fat Flush Residental Plan is built around breakfast in bed, poolside lunches and candlelit dinners with low glycemic index foods like lean protein and organic fruits and vegetables. It is designed to help you change your eating habits, lose weight, and gently detox through herbal body wraps and Swedish massage. No colonics here! Options run from two to 11 days.